Unfortunately, they aren't guerilla gardeners who sow wildflowers in lawns or derelict lots. It seems like they just offer gardening services.

Rogue gardeners arrested

Article: Oxford Mail

Trading standards officers from Oxfordshire County Council have collared four people in a crackdown on cold-calling rogue gardeners.

Council officers along with police swooped on two addresses in Oxford and Witney on Wednesday, February 28, and arrested four people who were carrying out gardening and building work.

The previous day, three men working in a garden, in Headington, Oxford, ran off from trading standards officers when they were approached. A further incident today is still being investigated.

These four incidents alone could have netted the rogue traders a total of £11,500 for carrying out very little or sub-standard work.

Nigel Strick, head of Oxfordshire County Council's trading standards department, said: There appears to be team of rogue traders operating in the county offering to do gardening work.

"We would strongly advise all Oxfordshire residents not to deal with traders who call at their house.

"If you need gardening work done, ask your friends and neighbours to recommend a trader and get a couple of quotes to make sure you are paying a fair price."

If someone calls at your house offering to do gardening work, say no thank you' and report the visit to trading standards on 0845 0510845.

Apartment Therapy has a great piece on really creative birdhouses auctioned off for a good cause--affordable housing in Los Angeles. (for people, not just birds)

Here's a pull quote:

"Birdhouses for the Birdhouse Auction, an event hosted by Princeton Community Housing, invited architects, artists and other creatives to fashion their own vision of the common birdhouse. With 124 different built from the likes of architects Michael Graves [top] and the Princeton Design Guild/Wilkes Architect [bottom left], the results were anything but common."

I've installed indoor plants for clients, but it didn't usually entail much more than choosing the best-shaped plant for the space, the right plant in concerns to light, and the planter that complemented the interior décor. This client is a principal at Deep Green Living, a consulting business that helps homes and businesses go green. She's originally from the sweaty, beautiful tropical chaos of fruit, flowers and foilage that is Coconut Grove in Miami, was feeling a little homesick. She didn't want an accent plant--she wanted a mini-jungle.

So when recently at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, I wandered through their greenhouses; while looking at the tropical and desert micro-climates, I realized this would be a lot like creating a perennial border. Start with a tall center, and work down in a triangle, and try to have different textures and hues of foliage.

We made our way up and down 28th street, the final gasp of the plant district, comparing the health and sizes of different plants. My advice to the client when choosing--follow your heart. She did, and didn't get any bonsai or succulents, but really went for the tropicals.

We then headed through the outer boroughs for the perfect planters. These Eco Pots are made from rice and biodegradable. After about 5 years, you just plant them in the ground, and they become organic matter. They are available at:
The New York Botanical Garden
GRDN
and coming soon to Sprout Home.

We purchased these for the smaller plants to sit in the windowsills.

For the larger, we ended up finally purchasing black zinc planters on 28th Street (hint, the earlier you go to Planter Resource, the less cranky and more helpful the people are), but here are a few that we also liked:

Dig has nice ceramic pots, but they were too heavy and not quite modern enough for this space:

New York Botanic Gardens Carries these pretty, light weight resin planters, and they're very inexpensive. They just didn't have the variety of sizes that we needed.

Sprout Home had a nice selection, but to buy as many as we needed from them would have meant a wait of two weeks. We did get our castors from them. As well, we bought worm casings (poop!) for composting the tropicals.

And finally, the watering can from
Smith and Hawken.

Before

After
(Keep in mind, houseplants clean formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air, so this is a very simple and effective way to improve the air quality in your home.)

Here's a close up of the variegated leaves and different colored foliage available with tropicals.

Here's the Eco Pot, en vivo.

We are now working on indoor edible plants. We're going to find some kumquat and Mandarin orange trees that will fruit indoors. As well, we're purchasing herbs, and starting lettuce leaves for indoor window boxes.

I just got leafy green seeds in from Thomson & Morgan Thompson & Morgan
that include:

The blend consists of Leaf Radish, Leaf Carrot, Wrinkled Cress, Kale Red Russian, Red Amaranth, Golden Purslane, Salad Burnet, Spinach, Red Chard, Red Cos, Lambs Lettuce,
Watercress, Lollo Rossa, Baby Cos, Rocket, Coriander, Continental Parsley

Along with the Greening of Queens event, Wave Hill is teaching about bee keeping this weekend, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has an Edible Garden Festival going on.

Urban Bee Keeping at Wave Hill

In the morning, you'll learn how to set up a hive. After lunch, experts will discuss safe
strategies for keeping honey bees in community gardens, backyards, and
on rooftops -- and the challenges faced in urban environments.

Wave Hill, 675 West 252nd Street, at Independence Avenue
(718-549-3200 or wavehill.org). Urban Beekeeping, March 8. Morning
session, 9:30 a.m.-noon; afternoon session, 1-4 p.m. To register, call
718-549-3200 ext. 305.

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens:
"Edible NYC: Green it! Grow it! Eat it!" is the theme of the 27th annual Making Brooklyn Bloom symposium, which will be held on Saturday, March 8, 2008, 10 am to 4 pm at

Come network in the Palm House and visit 28 local and regional exhibitors who support greening in New York City and the local food movement. Lunch is available at the Terrace Café in the Steinhardt Conservatory. Be sure to arrive at 10 am to register for both morning and afternoon workshops. Admission is free before 12 noon and free thereafter with the event flyer. For more information, call GreenBridge, the Community Environmental Horticulture Program at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, at 718.623.720

Workshop leaders from BBG, Just Food, Brooklyn community gardens, East New York Farms, Slow Food, the Philly Orchard Project and many other local and national organizations will teach hands-on lessons on:
· The Edible Palette: Food-Producing Plants for the Decorative Landscape · Community Composting Projects · Raising Chickens and Bees in the City
· Sustainable Watering Practices · Savoring Home-Grown Herbs All Year Round · Integrated Pest Management, a Healthy Alternative · Starting from Seed
· Extending the Season with Cold Frames and More · Best Vegetables for Brooklyn · Urban Soil Health and Remediation · Canning to Preserve the Harvest
· The Sky's the Limit: Growing Food on Trellises · Growing Fruit and Nut Trees · Grow it Anywhere with Window Boxes and Containers · Brewing Compost Tea

The panel discussion organized around the newly released book, EDIBLE ESTATES: Attack on the Front Lawn, took place last night at the New York Public Library at 42nd Street. There was a big turn-out for an enjoyable evening. Several movements have been creating a perfect storm for replanting the lawns with vegetable gardens: Slow foods organizations, Loose the Lawn awareness, and the higher and higher costs of groceries due to soaring oil prices. However, Fritz Haeg gives it an artist's spin and lexicon. He referred to these edible lawns as "Poetic Provocations". He said, "When people walk down the sidewalk and see these lawns, they're forced to examine the world we live in."

The front lawn is the sentry, the thing that separates your home from the street, but planted as a vegetable garden it becomes fragile things in a vulnerable space. (somebody's phrase from the panel, not mine). It's like a de facto test of your neighborhood--will your food be stolen, vandalized, or become a focal point, a gathering place for the neighborhood?

One of the panelists, Paul Holdengräber, quite eloquently spoke about how gardening is a system, and like art, many times the beauty is found when the system fails and the unexpected happens. Gardens, with their constant evolutions and many-faceted elements leave lots of room for this.

Much of the discussion also involved the idea of community and public space versus private space. Shamim Momin, a curator at the Whitney Museum, spoke about her experience at the Whitney Altria museum in Midtown and how when things are in a vulnerable, public space, people start to take ownership. (Fritz Haeg is going to be installing an edible estate in front of the main New York Public Library, so this will be tested in this well trafficked place.) Dolores Hayden has written several books about suburbia, and she spoke about suburbs and the American Dream. Most of this panel's discussion really seemed to get at the idea that this 1950's suburban dream has cost us so much in terms of the environment and community that we are in drastic need of re-evaluating the materialism that fuels our society. Vegetables bring us back to a simpler, more sustainable time.

And, as author and academic Frederick Kaufman discussed, in American history, we have always considered gardening virtuous. In the 18th century tending a garden was considered a cure for alcoholism. And Horace Mann wrote: "Horticultural refinement is emblem and augury of all refinement."

Kaufman then suggested we start planting "smokable estates."

Almost every day I pass by the new Night and Day Condos, a massive structure that runs 18 stories high and towers over McCarren Park. This is known as one of the "finger" buildings, as it sticks up like a finger in a neighborhood of low buildings, and symbolically, they are giving the rest of the neighborhood the finger. The developers recently installed a garden in the back of the building, which gave me pause. There was something so odd and out of place about it.

The garden looked like it should be at a convalescent home in the suburbs.

The rows of Arborvitaes, also known as contractor specials, as they are the cheapest evergreens available, are crammed into soil that's still filled with chunks of cement that will leak toxins into their roots. They have a tendency to turn brown, so this will hurry that process along; the bright red mulch looks neither organic nor modern, just tacky.

The accent tree is a shapeless Spruce--the second cheapest evergreen you can find; and then mono-planting of boxwoods and grass make sure a bird or butterfly will never alight anywhere near the property. They do have a little seating area with benches, though they are so exposed and uninviting, I can't imagine anyone would actually sit there.

The condos aren't cheap, running just a little under $100.00 a square foot. So with 18 floors of condos, each costing around a million dollars, why wouldn't you spend a couple hundred dollars on a dogwood tree or a few perennials? The accent tree should be a gorgeous hinoki cypress or Korean White Pine.

Here's a description of the building from a
Real Estate Agent selling a $950,000 2-bedroom apartment in this building.

"Rising 18 stories, Number Twenty Bayard is the new high point of McCarren Park. As the tallest building on the parks perimeter, this defining addition to the Williamsburg landscape has the most enviable views of Manhattan. With interior designs by Andres Escobar, Number Twenty Bayard suggests a boutique hotel with superior finishes and thoughtful accents."

As I snapped a few photographs of some of the exterior "thoughtful accents", a construction worker started to yell at me to "stop taking photographs of the garden." I yelled back, "Why?" He never answered me, but I really wanted to know. Was I going to steal some of their ideas?

Like their row of Arborvitae:

A place I do go for ideas and inspiration, the Green Dome Community Garden is less than a block away from from the finger Night and Day. It's a tiny space, but one of the nicest small gardens in the city. The dwarf evergreens are varied colors and textures which include Hinoki cypress, blue spruce, white pine, and cascading juniper. Ornamental grasses provide shelter for birds, and you can hear birdsong year round here.

Yuccas and rose hips also provide year round interest. The curving stone paths lead through raised beds of perennials-- in the spring poppies come in at the same time as the iris, butterflies love the Echinacea and purple aster in late summer. There are a few benches tucked between big clusters of lavender and artemisia where you can sit and read a book.

Crocus are in bloom now, and come springtime, it's just a marvel.

Clearly, this has been planted by people understand the poetry of a garden; the other by real estate developers who want to spend the least amount of time and money possible. But making money isn't a bad thing, and in reality, actually creating a beautiful landscape with plants that support bio-diversity, having a variety of ornamental trees, and good design enhances the value of property. Herein lies the difference between Value Added and Staging in landscaping.

Staging is to make your property look good to people shopping for homes. When you look up staging ideas on the Internet, tips generally include terms like, "tricks" and "fluffing".(Isn't fluffing a term from pornography sets?) Tips include: Place flowers in two large pots flanking entryway" or "Hang flowers or ferns." So while these might improve the moment of entry for buyers, they don't in fact add value to the property. When the frenzied real estate market was at its peak in New York City, landscaping wasn't necessary. But as things cooled off, real estate agents started contacting gardeners to help them fix up a place. A friend of mine, a gardener in Brooklyn Heights, was repeatedly contacted by agents. At first she was excited by the prospect, but quickly learned that many of them were paying for the plantings themselves and didn't really want an installation that would last for years and improve over time, but rather a few plants that looked good while showing the place. Since payment for the landscaping came out of the agent's pocket, they wanted to spend as little as possible.

In contrast to this, real estate appraisers estimate that good landscape design increases property value 15 percent. As far as plants go, large trees are the slowest to establish but add the greatest value to property. In a city, large trees might cast so much shade that a smaller, ornamental variety is more desirable. Try a native dogwood, cascading cherry tree, birches are always nice, or go for a fruiting tree such an apricot or pear, which have beautiful flowers in the springtime and fruit in the fall. Keep shrubs healthy and pruned so they don't look too wild and have a nice array that are blooming or have structural interest throughout the four seasons. As far as perennials go, it's suggested that you photograph them when they are at their showiest, and then present these pictures to prospective buyers. Other features such as irrigation systems and bluestone patios drastically increase your property value. Also keep in mind that when garden designers install hardscape and trees, shrubs, and perennials, these are considered capital improvements, frequently they are tax deductible. Annuals and bulbs, like tulips that don't return year after year are not deductible. (I had a rather humorous conversation with a New York State Tax man about this. He told me that bulbs are not considered Capital Improvement as they are annuals, and I said, 'what about daffodils, they come back year after year," to which I got a "look lady, just read the tax book."

Empty terraces used for storage are wasting precious space in cities. When we planted this native terrace, the client's boyfriend was skeptical about the whole endeavor. It was only 16 feet by 9 feet--how could we install everything we said we would--fountain, bat boxes, bird, butterfly, bee friendly plants, and have space for a little table and chairs. Subsequently, he had his coffee every morning, and beer at night in this terrace garden. As a cynical economist, he wasn't just won over, but also told his girlfriend that the installed terrace added about $10,000.00 worth of value to her apartment, as we essentially created an additional room.

Nicely designed gardens do not need to be expensive. They however do need to be well thought out. Gardens installed in the Curran House, an AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, are an example of excellent design that build a sense of community. This was designed by Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture.

This is the "decompression" garden through which residents and visitors enter the building and leave behind the harsh urban neighborhood surrounding it. This sanctuary was planted with tree ferns, baby tears, flax, calla lilies and mondo grass.

A low fountain made of black concrete was placed at the center of the courtyard. The water runs in a thin layer over and flowing over the top through stainless steel grating into a re-circulating vault. This is mask the noises of the Tenderloin pulsing outside and it needed to be child-safe, so it is shallow.

The sunny rooftop garden has galvanized troughs so that residents can grow their own plants and vegetables. As well, the beds are raised for elderly and handicapped people. As the building reached 100 percent occupancy, demand for space out-weighed the number of available plots so citrus trees, pomegranates and kiwi vines were added.

The sustainability show that's opening at Eyebeam Gallery
tomorrow night could not be more timely, particularly the installation by Britta Riley and Rebecca Bray, two artists and collaborators who also have a company called Submersible Design.

Their installation, DrinkPeeDrinkPeeDrinkPee is a project about our bodies as part of larger ecosystems. The project includes an installation and a DIY kit that allows you to turn your pee into fertilizer. The installation will be on view and the DIY kits will be available at Eyebeam for the FEEDBACK exhibition from March 13 - April 19.

Their Artist Statement:
What happens when we think of our bodies as their own ecosystems? Are they open or closed ecosystems? Where do we draw the boundaries? Before we take medication, do we ask ourselves how it will affect our internal organs, our friendly bacteria? What is our medication's future, beyond our bodies, in the sewage system and out in the waterways we swim in and eventually drink? What are the possible futures of our personal waste? What do sentient ecosystems eat and drink?

In this work we can see our urine become a source of overfeeding, mutation, and disease or a fertilizer in a new lifecycle economy.

Just this week, the Associate Press released a report that has me filtering my water twice. We're drinking the drugs from each other's pee. Two days ago, AP published the story Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water By Jeff Donn. It states, "Research studies have turned up minute amounts of more than 15 drugs or their byproducts in several pristine-looking rivers, a reservoir, and aqueducts feeding the country's biggest water system.

Though barely measurable, these pharmaceuticals are present in a variety worthy of a medicine cabinet: drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular sedative; and caffeine -- all bound for the city that never sleeps."

But it's not just New York City that's all hopped up on their neighbors anti-depressants and estrogen. In fact, ABC.com released an article that says The AP's investigative team found traces of drugs in 24 of the 62 major metropolitan water systems it checked.

Rebecca and Britta studied the work of the Swiss scientists at EAWAG Aquatic Research who found:

Although urine makes up only 1% of the total volume of wastewater, it accounts for 50-80% of the nutrient content. Nutrients have to be removed by resource-intensive processes at wastewater treatment plants. In the absence of these processes, nutrient discharges pose a risk of eutrophication - threatening in particular coastal waters and fish stocks. Many problematic substances, such as residues of medicines or endocrine disrupters, also enter wastewater via urine and may subsequently be released into the environment. The Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) has now shown that separate collection and treatment of urine could make significant contributions to water pollution control and nutrient recycling worldwide . . .

Novaquatis tested various methods of processing urine. Ideally, treatment should permit recycling of nutrients as fertilizers and, at the same time, removal of problematic micropollutants. For example, 98% of the phosphorus in urine can be recovered by precipitation with magnesium. The product - struvite - is an attractive fertilizer, free of pharmaceuticals and hormones. In Switzerland, nutrients from human urine could serve as substitutes for at least 37% of the nitrogen and 20% of the phosphorus demand that is currently met by imported artificial fertilizers.

What's the problem with urine in wastewater?

While urine accounts for less than 1% of total wastewater volume, it contains 50-80% of all the nutrients in wastewater. Many micropollutants, i.e. residues of pharmaceuticals and hormones from human metabolism, also enter wastewater via urine. On average, for all medicines and hormones ingested, 60-70% of the active ingredient is excreted in the urine.

85-90% of the nitrogen and 50-80% of the phosphorus are concentrated in the urine. These nutrients are desirable in agriculture, but not in waterbodies. It may therefore make sense to separate urine from wastewater and use it for fertilizer production."

So I'm going to Eyebeam on Thursday night. I'll purify my pee before flushing it if you purify yours. FYI: The fertilizer that comes from urine is supposed to be good for fruit trees.

Animals in the News

Ohio's coyote comeback good news for gardeners - Donna Miller's Animals in the News
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Donna Miller
Plain Dealer Reporter

Ohio's coyote population is growing. That's good news for many of you.
Coyotes prowling your yard will eat the rabbits and rodents that munched your garden. They will scare away trash-raiding raccoons and the deer eyeing your favorite bushes. They also eat the eggs of those messy Canada geese so many of you loathe.

"I call coyotes nature's animal-control officers, because they control the populations of every kind of urban wildlife people complain about, and do it so neatly, quietly and efficiently that most of the time most folks have no idea that coyotes are among them," said Merritt Clifton, editor of the international Animal People newspaper.

Coyotes rarely bite people, but they can make meals of cats and small dogs.

EATING CALIFORNIA' CLASS SCHEDULE

3 hour classes , Saturdays Only , 10am to 1pm , 7 Weeks

$175 / Attendee , $150 / CNGF Member , $185 / Membership & Class

Dates: April 19th , May 10th , May 31st , June 14th , June 28th , July 12th , August 2nd Tasting Menu Banquet

Classes limited to 15 people , Venue to be determined

Instructors: John Farais & Alrie Middlebrook

RSVP Required: Please call 408-292-9993 or email info@cngf.org

Prepayment of class required to confirm your spot!

Payment forms accepted are check or Paypal

Madonna's new Africa awareness documentary was directed and filmed by her personal gardener.
Thursday, March 13, 2008

Copyright World Entertainment News Network 2008

Madonna's new Africa awareness documentary was directed and filmed by her personal gardener.The pop superstar rewarded green-fingered multi-tasker Nathan Rissman by asking him to take charge of her new movie I Am Because We Are.

She explains, "He used to be my gardener... He's a brilliant, lovely guy - one of those guys who came into my life and did every job. He was a runner, an intern, a gardener.

"He took care of my kids. He did everything and he did it with humility. And everyone just grew to love him. And then he started doing these little movies of my children and sending them to me, and making films out of photographs and just being really creative.

"One day I said, 'I need somebody to document this,' and then looked at him and said, 'And that person is you.' He really stepped up to the plate."

Rissman took off to Malawi, Africa to document Madonna's film, which she wanted to release to show that famine, poverty and AIDS in the developing world are problems that can be solved.
The singer adds, "He spent a lot of time in Malawi, literally sleeping on the floors of people's huts and waking up with chickens on his head.

"He really lived it and approached it with an open heart and so much gratitude.
"People opened their hearts to him. I couldn't have done that."

Sharecropper is a micro farming installation happening in New York City, Summer of 2009. Leah Gauthier, Eyebeam's resident, will be stitching together a micro heirloom vegetable and herb farm from various donated growing spaces in all five boroughs of New York City. These include private residences, schools, hospitals, restaurants, corporations, places of worship, community gardens, public gardens, and parks. Working under a traditional sharecropper agreement, rent will be paid with a portion of the harvest, and the balance shared with local soup kitchens.

Leah will be using organic growing methods, planting heirloom vegetables and herbs, and cultivating wild edibles. There will be a series of cooking performances around the city for people to see, smell and taste. This work is Leah's personal journey exploring agricultural plant matter as sculptural material, community building through growing and cooking food, and finding ways of re-incorporating agrarian sensibilities and simplicity back into modern life.

The Call:

Please donate a growing space of any size (minimum 3' x 3') and in any location. A viable space for this project must:

* reside in any of the five boroughs of New York City.
* have at least six hours per day of sun exposure.
* be easily accessible for farming throughout the summer.

What you get for donating:

* play an integral part in a city wide art project.
* receive personal invitations to all Sharecropper related events, such as tasting dinners, artist talks, and community gatherings.
* have a beautiful garden installed as a work of art and maintained for the summer of 2009.
* receive 1/3 of the harvest, and help those less fortunate.
* Leah can help take care of your other plants as well (great for those on vacation).

Email Leah at leah AT leahgauthier DOT com. Sharecropper is currently being developed at Eyebeam.

For two weeks this March, hundreds of students and young professionals will converge on New Orleans - bringing their energy and ideas to help the people of the Lower 9 revitalize their community. They are architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, interior designers and contractors who'll work hand in hand with neighborhood residents on their historic houses, parks, playgrounds and community centers. Visit the Historic Green website to donate or volunteer: Historic Green

Historic Green is an unprecedented opportunity to integrate sustainable practices with preservation of a place. To increase energy efficiency. To enhance its quality of life, housing and transportation. To protect the wetlands. To help create the nation's first carbon-neutral community.

GREEN SPACES
1. Volunteers will work with Holy Cross residents to protect and restore a community playground's play equipment, grounds, and access.
2. Garden construction and raingarden demonstrations in cooperation with Common Ground, Replant New Orleans, and others.
3. Design-Build services for a neighborhood community garden including compost bins, raised planters, walkways, tool-storage, and more.
4. Bayou restoration & access projects in cooperation with the Sierra Club and several university groups. Volunteers will work to improve a bayou access path, seal a viewing platform, and complete the construction of the viewing platform's designed railing.

This entry by Edina Tokodi was posted on the blog IInhabit

Pull Quote:
"One of our favorite green public artists, Edina Tokodi, is at it once again with her shape-shifting moss graffiti and urban guerrilla tactics. Tokodi was recently commissioned by SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority) to encourage Philadelphia's commuters to 'Go Green' with her navigable moss icons and green walls in the Market East Station's passenger service area, ticketing area, and on the exterior of the station building and Transportation Museum. The initiative is part of SEPTA's mission to help commuters become more aware of the positive environmental impact of using mass transit regularly."

Shelving for small balconies
Christian Lessing

I found this on Yanko Design

Here's a pull quote:

"Modern times being what they are, with sky high real estate prices and space in most larger cities running out quickly, designers are constantly put to task and have made "Necessity the Mother of Invention" yet again. Apartment living can be both practical and convenient for urban centric lifestyles, but the limited space available in most squares-of-air is usually enough to drive us to prescription drugs. I'm not really sure Tyler Durden would approve, but creating your little utopia in the sky just got a easier. Introducing the "Summer at the Balcony" by Christian Lessing. This multi-piece balcony wall unit looks inspired by retail store shelves and displays. By allowing for the easy adjustment of any number of surfaces, from a stool, to a bistro table, to even a flower pot holder, designing your perfect balcony space is easy as finding a Gap in mid-town Manhattan."

My friend Hayley sent me this great picture from the Macy's Flower Show

I just published in ABC.com about Sazon, a cooking school in the lovely town of San Miguel de Allende.

Click Here to see the full text:
Learning About San Miguel de Allende Through Shopping, Chopping and Tasting

Pull Quote:

Culinary travel is about more than merely tasting adventurers want to understand cultivation, explore marketplaces and learn to cook the dishes that once seemed exotic and mysterious.
Mexico, a food lovers' wonderland, is ahead of the curve with culinary schools throughout the country, offering packages that run from one-day to weeklong certificate programs.

The history and cultural evolution of Mexico can be traced through its culinary tradition. Yucatan-style food is marked by Mayan influence, and today pits are still dug to slow-roast meats with orange juice and achiote (annatto) seed. The Zapotecs of Oaxaca still brew mezcal as they did more than 2,000 years ago when priests used the ceremonial drink to heighten their senses, and gave it to sacrificial victims to lessen theirs.

As seeds are arriving in the mail and gardeners around the country are sharping their tools, spreading compost, and laying out their beds, keep in mind that many local food banks can use any extra produce you grow.

In Bloomington Indiana, there's a program that brings together community gardeners, back yard gardeners parks and recreation and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard the largest food pantry in Monroe County. Last year, the Plant a Row program collected more than 20,000 pounds of fresh produce. Full Article

In Seattle, there are about 70 community gardens (or P-Patches) as they call them, which have dedicated "giving gardens". Every year the Interbay P-Patch Food Bank Garden grows about 2 tons of fresh organic produce, which goes to a local food bank, meals-on-wheels programs and shelters for women and children.

To get you in the gardening mood: The Acoustics of Vegetables

Here's a YouTube link of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra in concert and a description:

"Welcome. The Vegetable Orchestra performs music solely on instruments made of vegetables. Using carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, leek-zucchini-vibrators, cucumberophones and celery bongos, the orchestra creates its own extraordinary and vegetabile sound universe. The ensemble overcomes preserved and marinated sound conceptions or tirelessly re-stewed listening habits, putting its focus on expanding the variety of vegetable instruments, developing novel musical ideas and exploring fresh vegetable sound gardens."

From the Vertical Farm Website

The Problem

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?

As part of Etsy's DIY Wedding Series here are some eco-tips from Meghan Yudes Meyers from Portovert.com
on how to greenify your Handmade Wedding

These postings include tips by the likes of Design*Sponge and Indie Fixx among many other blogs. And soon the series will feature an article by City Dirt on buying Fair Trade and local wedding flowers, along with how to make DIY bridal bouquets and center pieces for the reception.

From Today's Brooklyn Based:

On April 6, Brownstoner's Brooklyn Flea will open in Fort Greene, and a map in this week's NY Mag offers a glimpse of its eclectic look and feel. "It's a big yard," says organizer Eric Demby, "and we want fleashttp://brooklynbased.net/everything/brooklyn-flea-look-see/ters to explore the whole thing -- grab a cupcake on the way to the vintage Halston girl, stumble across a local photographer and find some jewelry on the way out." The one constant is the preponderance of locals: 60 percent of the 200 vendors live and/or work here. BB singled out a few Brooklynites we are excited to see:

Clothes and Accessories
Each week a rotating group of Brooklyn-based designers from the online design store Supermarket will appear, beginning with Andy Pratt Design, Metalnat, Nina Dinoff Jewelry, RE-SURFACE, Winter Water Factory and necktie mavericks Sovereign Beck.

Textile designer Alysha Cassis will be selling vintage and collectible designer shoes, bags, jewelry and clothes, like silk chiffon Halston gowns from the 70s, 2007 Zac Posen blouses, and her own clothes line, creme de cassis.

Mitch Greenblatt of Watchismo will sell his supercool modern and vintage watches like this 1966 Gilbert James Bond Gadget Watch ($200). Greenpoint’s Bonbon Oiseau will be discounting much of its jewelry by 10-50 percent, like their popular mismatched earrings.

Expect clothes for tiny fashionistas too, like these cotton kimonos ($42; 3M-3T) from Brooklyn Junior. And canines are covered by Bed-Stuy's Madeline Pet Clothier.

Home and Garden
Trixie and Radar also deal in dog wear, along with hand-crafted wares like these rad decoupaged light plates ($15).

Phyllis Bobb, the dynamo behind one of BB's favorite blogs, Reclaimed Home, and her husband will be selling fixtures and mid-century, Victorian and primitive furniture, restored and “as is.”

Jim Malone's Counter Evolution NYC booth will feature the countertops, benches, and tables he makes from salvaged bowling alleys and steel.

Among the designers Grace Bonney has curated for her Design*Sponge Collective section at the Flea will be Lena Corwin, with her signature pillows, plates and ties.

And urban landscaper and City Dirt blogger Maria Finn will be selling eco-potted herbs, and wildflowers that lure hummingbirds.

Food
Food artisans like Brooklyn Cookie and Nunu Chocolates will be scattered throughout the flea, but for made-to-order fare, the food court at the back of the market will feature vendors like the Waffle Truck, Choice Market, and Colibri, a Cuban food stall manned by Ricardo Barreras, who plans to open a restaurant in Clinton Hill next year.

Offbeat
Along with her librarian day dresses and 1930s fur-trimmed coats, astrologer Patrice Kamin will be offering mini-readings for $20-$50. And two photobooth operators will alternate Sundays: Prospect Heights photographer Riely Clough (whose work is pictured) has kitschy backdrops planned for hers (think "photobooth meets a Sears portrait meets a candid"), and Dave Bias of Save Polaroid will be selling vintage Polaroids and capturing flea goers on instant film.

Brooklyn Flea, Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Aves. at the schoolyard of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Fort Greene. Open 10am-5pm every Sunday beginning April 6.

The Los Angeles based art collective, Farmlab uses urban agriculture as art. With a little help from spring rains, it has transformed the 32 acre Los Angeles State Historic Park, located in a largely industrial area at the northern end of Chinatown, into a wildflower meadow.

What used to be a brown patch and is now filled with Bush Sunflowers, Tidy Tips, California Poppies and Deer Weeds blend with the purples and pinks of Owl's Clovers, Red Buds and Arroyo Lupines. Visit Downtown Los Angeles for a full article.

Farmlab's upcoming exhibitions and performances, Earth, Seed, Water, Process were inspired by the destruction of the South Central Farm, which was bulldozed in 2006.

As they state on their website, "The farm was ultimately destroyed. Farmlab removed organic materials that survived the initial bulldozing. Indeed, the beginning of Farmlab was in this crucible of loss. From that experience, a need became apparent to renegotiate the value of earth, seed, and water as an ethical construct."

RELATED PUBLIC PROGRAMMING:
Free Admission

Sunday, April 15, 2008
Exhibition is Open
8am-4pm
@ Farmlab; Underspring; North half, Los Angeles State Historic Park

Sunday, April 15, 2008
Plant A F.L.A.G. (Farmlab Agbin Garden)
8am-Noon
@ North half, Los Angeles State Historic Park

Sunday, April 15, 2008
Telic: The Public School
2-4pm
@ Farmlab

This is really bad. What sort of infidel steals flowers from a Veterans Memorial? And on Good Friday?

Click Here for Video: Click Here for the Video

SHERMAN, Tex. -- Police are investigating another theft in Sherman. This time it's plants stolen from a public park. What makes the crime even worse--those plants are part of a veteran's memorial garden.

The Grayson Master Gardeners planned the Veteran's Memorial garden with red, white, and blue flowers. Now there are just holes in the ground where those plants used to be.

Trampled pansies and dirt on the sidewalks are scattered among ground cover where flowers and shrubs to honor Grayson county veterans were stolen.

"It's disheartening that someone would come in and disrespects it this way and takes the plants," says Richard Green, Master Gardener's director.

Green says someone uprooted about $100 worth of perennials planted solely by volunteers.

"I actually brought my grandchildren out for Easter and I wanted to show them the site and there were holes where there should have been roses, salvias, and perennial plants," says Lacy Price, site coordinator who has logged more than 50 hours at the garden.

The Grayson County Master Gardeners maintain the site and were preparing the area to look especially nice for Memorial Day. The garden honors Grayson County veterans killed in our nation's wars. They don't know exactly when these thefts occurred, until Price saw the plants were missing.

"That's when we discovered it on Friday, Good Friday of all days," Green says.

They say it's not about the money, but about the time, effort, and purpose of the garden. They have one request for the community:

"Please don't steal our plants!!" Price says.

The Gardeners buy plants from donations. If you would like to help, contact the Master Gardeners at 903-813-4204

A mailing address is:

Grayson Co. Extension Office
Attn: Master Gardeners
100 W. Houston St., Courthouse
Sherman, TX 75090

First the loss of the South Central Farm in Los Angeles, and now this, the closing of a community vegetable garden. The city of Santa Cruz has decided that the $4,400.00 dollars a year they spend on water for this garden is too expensive. Why is it that counties have endless funds when it comes to incarcerating poor people but can't afford much that's positive for these communities? Also, why not just install rain barrels for irrigation? It's eco-friendly and cheaper in the long run.

Beach Flats garden moved to smaller plots
TOM RAGAN - SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Article Launched:03/27/2008 01:31:08 AM PDT

SANTA CRUZ -- After nearly two decades of planting cactus, cauliflower and other edible vegetables on 2 acres in the Beach Flats, gardeners are being asked by the city to stop planting, turn in their gate keys and prepare to move to a quarter-acre garden a half a block away.

They have until Monday.

Although the gardeners say they plan to follow the orders, they're wondering what the rush is -- especially since spring has just arrived and there are no immediate plans by the garden's owners, the Santa Cruz Seaside Co., to use the property on Raymond Street.

The community garden, which is used by about a dozen gardeners, is special to the surrounding Latino community, many of whom work in construction, the fields of the Pajaro Valley or at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk a few blocks away.

The vegetables grown there are a commodity. They're peddled in the streets, shared among neighbors and eaten. The harvest each year is a big event.

"We were hoping for a big harvest, but now it looks like the land is just going to sit here empty," said Spanish-speaking Domingo Mendoza, a 74-year-old Mexican immigrant who's been growing vegetables on the patch of dirt for more than a decade. "And have you seen the new garden? There's just no way we're going to be able to grow the same amount of vegetables over there." Click here for f